Quattara, Buhari, others in for ECOWAS meeting; roads closed

The Accra Regional Police Command has announced a temporary closure of some roads in the capital as leaders in the sub-region arrive for the 5th Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Presidential Task-force meeting on the attainment of a single currency by 2020.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Ivorian leader Alhassane Ouattara, and the President of Niger, Issoufou Mahamadou, are already in town for the meeting. Governors of Central Banks and foreign Ministers from the ECOWAS are also attending the meeting.

A statement from the police said the Osu Cemetery Traffic Light on the Castle Road to AU Circle will be closed including the Independence Avenue through 37 interchanges to AU Circle.

“The general public is urged to cooperate with the police to ensure effective traffic management. Any inconvenience that these arrangements would cause is deeply regretted,” the statement added.

The ECOWAS meeting

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Accra International Conference Centre from February 21, 2018.

The four-day meeting is being chaired by Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The Meetings will among other things, provide member countries with a common platform to deliberate on issues related to the ECOWAS single currency programme and consider/adopt a revised roadmap to accelerate the creation of the single currency by 2020.

ECOWAS was founded with the aim of transforming the Sub-region into an economic and monetary union. This led to the adoption of the Community Authority of the ECOWAS Monetary’ Cooperation Programme (EMCP) in July 1987.

The last meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the ECOWAS Single Currency Programme was held in Niamey, Niger in October, 2017.